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Sorry for the delay, now back to the program

So the blog was a little behind, now it is about back up to speed, phew. Things are going well. Jack is doing well in speech therapy, so well he is trying his hand at talking back. We don't care for it just yet, because our satire is lost on him. Still loves to throw a ball. Wants to throw the ball inside, outside, at school, at home, throwing the ball.

Claire is battling her second round of pneumonia this year. She is usually so happy and easy going, you only notice she is sick if you know her well. She just isn't quite herself and will occassionally let out a terrible cough. But she is wheezy and a little less happy than usual. She is taking breathing treatments and some meds and will hopefully be on the mend soon. She constantly wants to sit on the potty and is talking about the potty, we'll see. Because although she is spending some good quality time in there, she isn't actually going potty. She is talking more and more every day. Good fun! She is so stubborn! She wants to do everything herself, our little independent child. My mom just chuckles quietly to herself. I suppose she has earned the right to do that after years with me.

Claire is no longer the baby of the family! My brother and sister in law adopted a baby boy!! His name is Xander Riley Smith (that is pronounced Zander). He is adorable! So cute and so tiny! I forgot they start out that small! What a blessing!! Our family needed that influx of joy!

Enjoy the pictures!

Christmas

We had a big family dinner on Christmas Eve. We had Papa Fred, Nana Brinda, Papa Chip, Uncle Riley, and all the Rochies together for a big dinner. Yum. We had been reading the story Santa is Stuck, which is a story about Santa eating too many yummy treats and then getting stuck when he tries to fit back up the chimney. So when we put the cookies out for Santa, the kids both wanted to eat them because "Santa stuck, Mommy!" so we got the kids ready for bed, put out the cookies and walked Uncle Riley out, I turn around and find Claire bear sitting in the middle of the dining room table, guzzling Santa's milk and nibbling his cookies! It took her only a matter of ten seconds to scale the table and start in on the goodies!

The kiddos made out like little bandits and were so much fun! They loved all the paper and the gifts were just what they wanted! For Jack a digital camera, a smart cycle (a bicycle game that hooks up to the tv and you pedal and steer to play different learning games), cars, and toys, oh my. Claire got a pink vacuum like mommy's, BABIES and more BABIES, a new talking kitchen, a tea set, and a pink barbie laptop! Alot of fun and I am excited to see what next year will bring!

Time for a good sense of humor

A couple weeks before Christmas my Dad went to the emergency room because he was in unbearable pain. For those of you who don't know my Dad, he is Chuck Norris. He doesn't know pain, he causes pain (wink), but he most certainly never admits to being in pain. I am gonna go ahead and bypass retelling what we had to go through to get him from the ER to being admitted for more tests. It was really bad, he was not receiving an adequate level of care, they were not taking his pain seriously, and apparently my mom was afraid I was going to get myself arrested if those two things didn't change. Luckily, Riley (my older bro) came to join us, and play the good cop. After days of tests we had our answer. Multiple myeloma (a blood cancer that plants itself in the marrow and specifically attacks platelets) with a 5 by 10 centimeter tumor on his tailbone, thus the excruciating pain. Dad and I have been getting by, doing what we do, joking around. Mom, not such a fan of all the joking jokes and laughing. This is cancer and dammit people, it will be taken seriously. Dad did 15 radiation treatments trying to shrink the tumor and make him more comfortable, but the tumor didn't respond as the doc had hoped. So, now instead of a hoagie, he has a hot dog bun on his tailbone. He and I had a better schtick to use if they could get it down to the size of a golf ball, but no luck. Now he is doing some intense chemo. His age makes him inelligible for a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. The docs tailor the chemo down to the DNA level. Amazing. He has a great attitude and is ready for a fight. The hardest things are managing the pain, not just the tumor, but apparently cancer just hurts. All the pain and medicine are messing with his short term memory, he forgets things he just heard and that is really hard to see. My brilliant Daddy can't remember what you just told him, but can tell you the atomic weight of Boron. Ha! He is hanging tough and will do the chemo for nearly a year. He gets 2 weeks off between each block. I will keep you posted. This is really hard, my Daddy is my favorite.

Decking the halls...

Thanksgiving in Chicago

We spent the holiday in Chicago with Aunt Jenny and her mom (Judi~ but I have to will myself to call her Judi instead of Mrs. Gibson, seems naughty). This was Jenny's first time making the big Turkey Extravaganza, affectionately referred to as "only the most stressful meal of the year!" By both of our mothers! Jenny and I made every side dish, every dessert, all of it. This was my first time making honest to goodness home-made stuffing, Mrs. Gibson provided brilliant technical support and I will never go back to stove-top. We worked so well together in the kitchen, you would think we did it all the time. None of the typical stress that comes with the holiday, we set no schedule for ourselves, we planned to eat when we managed to get it all cooked. It was yummy. The kids had a great time! They love their aunt Jenny. Mrs. Gibson and I went to the American Girl Place to pick up Claire-bear's present from mommy and daddy, a set of twin baby dolls, ahhhhhh. We plan to go back for Thanksgiving next year for Jenny's first holiday in her new condo.
We were so busy having fun, I forgot to take pictures, but here is a picture of one of our little Turkeys just before Thanksgiving break from school, he is still very proud of his turkey hat. He always says "I made 'dis!!"

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